John Yau and Albert Mobilio select a few of their favorite poetry books from the past year.
John Koethe
Posted inBooks
Digging Into Memory and Time
John Koethe can be mordant, bleak, anguished, humorous, tender, and even sweet.
Posted inBooks
America’s Philosopher Poet
The Swimmer is John Koethe’s tenth book of poetry. For many years, he was Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee until he retired in 2010.
Posted inBooks
Between The Past You Can’t Live In and The Future You Can’t Imagine
We know that the equation between word and thing can no longer be taken for granted, and that words are made up of both syllables and sounds. Does this mean a poet — one who uses transparent language and writes in an autobiographical mode — is incapable of exploring the conditions of meaning? By transparent, I mean a plain language that can be used to reach the largest audience possible without losing any relevant information. Or must the language the poet uses be opaque and resistant, like reality itself?